The Tomoko Complex
by SilverGhostII
Summary: Tomoko Akiyama's life changed dramatically, but by this,changed everyone else's lives along with hers? Can she put down her pride to put one thing right before it's too late? - DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my OC's, Rei and Tomoko.
1. Confusion

_Tomoko Akiyama was blissfully unaware that she was about to be rudely awoken, she had been up half the night, unable to sleep so decided to take some of her mother's not so secret stash of sleeping pills, and probably wouldn't have woken up till the next day if the constant 'tap tap tap' on the window hadn't woken her._

_Reluctantly she dragged herself out bed, attempted to tame her wild toffee coloured hair and rubbed her maroon eyes before pulling the blinds up and throwing open the window, only to be face to face, from Izaya Orihara, standing on the roof, smirking his usual smirk and trying his hardest not to laugh at her appearance._

"_Oh! So nice to see you Izzy-kun, would you like to come in for a drink?" Tomoko said, sarcasm dripping out of her voice, as he let himself in to her room via the open window, which he shut behind him.  
"Awh, kind as ever aren't you T.K-chan." He replied in his usual mocking voice, signature smirk ever present as he clamoured in to her house through her windp_

"_Cut the crap Izaya, why are you standing in my house at like 5am, and don't say 'because you opened the window for me'?" Tomoko said with a roll of her maroon eyes, which were now extremely sharp after she had came-to after her rude awakening by her pesky 'friend'._

"_5 am?" Izaya laughed "More like 8:05, we have 25 minutes to get to school, becaaaaause you over-slept again...I just guess you will have to go to school like you are now, y'know...with your hair everywhere." He teased, dodging her light smack not quick enough to avoid the hard stamp of her foot on his foot. _

"_Izaya, I'm not stupid, it's a Sunday, there is no school." She scoffed, but a smile did flicker on her face for a second."Back home you go, before you get me whacked around the head, but then again, that's gunna happen anyway so I might as well tell you what I've found out before I really do kick you out..._

**Tap Tap Tap... Tap Tap... **

Tomoko woke up, her dream about the past was soon forgotten as all she could think of and feel was the pain in her head, blinding her, deafening her, pushing her back down. She had to blink a few times before her vision cleared a little, she could make out three figures, Shinra, Celty and... Izaya? She blinked again,

"Where am I?" She asked, her voice coming out as a growl, quiet and broken but still with a threatening edge.

"My house." Shinra answered with a smile, "Don't worry, we didn't abduct you or anything, aha, imagine that! That would be impossible, kidnapping someone like you, not that your much of a kid anymore, well none of us are, techinacally we are adults now..." Tomoko couldn't bear to listen to Shinra babble on and on and on and on, but since it hurt a little to speak, she couldn't tell him to "Shut the hell up" like she would have liked to, but thankfully, Celty shut him up for her and explained the situation to her.

'**Izaya brought you here, seems like you had some sort of an 'accident' so Shinra patched you up."**

Celty turned to shoot Izaya an accusatory look, well, she would had if her had a face, but the action was understood all round

"Dont give me that look Celty! As if I would do something like that to hurt T.k-chan, to think that you could think that hurts me so!~" Izaya said in a mock hurt voice clasping his hands to his chest and pretending to look dismayed.

"I am waiting for Tomoko here to tell us all what happened to her, soooo enlighten us T.K-Chan~" He sung again

Tomoko attempted to scowl at him "You're the informant, you tell them" She croaked again, before a wave of black crashed over her, pushing her into deep, dark unconscious, drowning in the bottomless pit where she remain for the next day, her dreams of the past continued, turning sinister and trapping her in the dream, no one able to hear her silent scream...


	2. Bottom of the Bottle Hits

Earlier the same day...

The sun beat down hard on the earth below, it was unbearable for some and a treat for others, but for Tomoko Akiyama it was the calm before the storm. She stood leaned up against a wall, throwing a small stone in the air them catching it. She was bored of waiting and was already taking the first steps to walk away from the then Raijin, now Raira academy when a hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, restraining her from walking any further.

"You wasn't about to ditch me, was you T.K-chan~" A voice from behind her sung, the heat of the speakers breath brushed against her ear and yet she didn't even flinch.

"You gave yourself away Izaya, if you didn't call me by that stupid nickname I might not have even guessed it was you, try and be more sly next time, I know you want to see me jump." She laughed, finally turning round to face him.

"Tomoko, you are going to bring round the file of information you have gathered on people in our class tonight, ~Ne?"

"Sure, sure." Tomoko said with a wink before turning around and skipping off down the street.

It was 4pm when Tomoko had arrived at her house, her mother's car wasn't in the drive, so that was one weight off of Tomoko's back.

Tomoko and her mother never saw eye to eye, ever. Her mother believed that she was the devil in flesh, that the devil could be beaten out of her if she was hit hard enough, and maybe it was true maybe she was a she-devil, but beating her would only make that spiteful spark ignite into a huge flame of malice, Tomoko's own mother was what made her already unruly daughter so turbulent, and this is because her mother never loved her, but she kept her only because she was the last reminder of someone, a man she had once loved but who was long dead. He was the only person who could ever love Tomoko, to him she was a perfect angel and , something far contrasting of what her mother thought she was. Her father was a good man, he was Russian, he taught Tomoko how to speak it, they would chat about stuff that they didn't want the real she-devil over hearing.

Tomoko turned the little silver key in its lock and slowly the door opened with a slight creak. Tomoko's mother may not have been in, but something far worse was waiting for her, someone who was a true monster, her step father.

After her father had died back in his home country of Russia, he got ill and died and that was when Tomoko's mother turned on her, she blamed her for his death, which is pretty impossible seeing as he died because of illness, but the woman was delirious. Her father was soon replaced by another man, a true monster.

Tomoko did believe in monsters, not the kind that are green and hairy, no, human monsters was what she believed in.

"There is nothing on this Earth more evil than humans." She had once told Izaya "And yet I can understand why you love them so, they ,we are such interesting beings..."

Tomoko believed that her step-father was one of those types of monsters, half the time he was drunk out of his head, and he too believed that Tomoko needed beating if she so much as blinked the wrong way, but he wasn't around much, he would hang around the nearest bar until silly'o'clock and would fall straight asleep, but today he was home early, Tomoko could smell the alcohol on his rank breath before she was even anywhere close to him, and she could see from the dark grin plastered on his face that he had done something.

"You think ya so smart don't cha, you won't be when you see what I have got in store for you!" He laughed a vulgar laugh as Tomoko pushed her way past him and ran up the steps to her room. The lock was broken and her computer was unlocked, all her files had been deleted.

"Dammit" she muttered under her breath panic rising in her chest but them she had an idea, she clicked on her recycle bin and there was everything. She quickly pasted it all back into her virtual folders, changed her passwords then printed off the one requested by Izaya, stapled it all together then put the documents in a folder. Her work would have been done but her taste for a bit of revenge led her across the hall to her step-fathers room and opened the door, she padded quietly in and went on his work computer.

"Дурак" she muttered angrily as she unlocked it and deleted every single file on his computer "Take this, I hope you like being jobless" she hissed. The deletion was almost complete when she heard a creek, she could feel a large presence behind her, slowly she turned and grinned a psychotic grin at her step-father.

"An eye for an eye" She hissed, jumping up and dodging his punch.

"You bitch, you slag, you demon!" The man cursed as he tried again and again to hit the little cow, punish her. Her managed to get her against a wall, and grabbed her by the throat, crushing the air out of her lungs, but her eyes showed now fear, just pride, she was proud she had managed to get at this drunkard one last time, she saw him grab the whisky bottle she saw it being raised, high about the fool's head and then it came down, down with a force that she was thrown across the room, he hit the floor hard and her vision blurred and her mind became confused. The man standing in front of her morphed into Shizuo and the bottle into a road sign. Tomoko could see him, lingering in front of her.

"Play possum" her mind screamed as her Eros drive, her life drive, kicked in and she held her breath for she knew that even though her lungs begged for air, if she took a breath now, it would be her last.

It seemed like an eternity until he left and walked down her stairs and Tomoko could such in air, the feeling was beautiful , the feeling someone lost in a desert would feel if they stumbled upon an oasis and drunk from the water it had provided.

In the backspace of her foggy mind, Tomoko was reminded that she had to get to Izaya's apartment, she groped for the folder and managed to grasp it in her weak hands, she unlatched the window and climbed out, a short jump and she was free. Despite her whole body screaming in agony she managed to run, run across to Shinjuku, it wasn't far from where she currently situated at, but it seemed like forever before she had made it there.

Izaya had recently moved out of his parents house and into his very own apartment, something everyone was jealous of.

Tomoko managed to arrive there conscious, she pressed to buzzer and waited for another eternity for the door to be opened, and when it was, Tomoko stumbled into the apartment, and held out the folder for Izaya to take and then collapsed into his arms, where unconscious dragged her deep, deep down, into the darkest places of her mind...


	3. Change of Events

Izaya was just finishing his last bit of work on the computer when his doorbell rung. He knew that it wasn't a client as no one had phoned to say that they were coming and anyway, he was expecting Tomoko to come round for a bit, and yet he hadn't expected they sight he saw when he opened the door.

There was Tomoko, yes, but something was wrong. Izaya first noticed her eyes, her maroon eyes which were always so alive and bright but now they were dead, far away and empty as well as being glazed over. Izaya then noticed her hair, her too-long bangs were stuck to her face by some sort of liquid, which he then noted to be blood, blood was running down her face.

Izaya didn't exactly know how to react, he was going to laugh but the sound didn't come, Tomoko had pushed past him and was wobbling around for a few seconds and then he collapsed, straight into his arms.

"Awh, yet another girl who just fell into my arms! Though I am surprised that that girl is you T.K-chan" Izaya purred.

"My pride just got bruised Iz, I would have rather you didn't catch me, I hate relying on people..." She slurred before her body went limp in his arms.

"**She's dead, she's dead."** Was the only thought Izaya had in his mind, he was slightly annoyed that she had dropped dead seeing as they had a plan for the last day of school, something to give everyone something to remember them by, but noooo, she had to just _die. _But then he noticed her slight breathing and called Shinra. The rest happened pretty fast.

**A few days after...**

Tomoko had to have her head stitched back up and she had sprained her arm when she fell, but apart from that she was ok.

She was awake now and still stuck at Shinra's house, bored. So she decided to become difficult.

"Shinra, I want to go home." She complained loudly.

"You can't Tomoko, you still have to heal." Shinra explained gently, pushing aside the sinking feeling in his stomach, for he knew that what Tomoko wanted, she got, not matter what she had to do to get her way.

"Save your breath." She said getting up going to leave, she honestly didn't care if she had to walk through Ikebukuro in her current state.

"But Tomoko! Your step-dad will _kill you_ if he sees you, you can't go home." Shinra wailed in despair, rushing to grab his friend, but she just pulled her arm away

"Well, I guess you will just have to arrange my funeral then, до свидания!" She said with a shark grin, closing her eyes tight and revealing white teeth that are all the better to bite you with, then swing the door open, took one step forward and collided with someone.

Tomoko rubbed her nose and looked up to see Izaya Orihara, smirking at her, Tomoko returned the smirk, her smirk going in the opposite direction, as the pair stood together like that, Shinra couldn't help but feel that both their smirks looked like a huge evil smile when they stood together like that.

"I couldn't help overhear your conversation, but Tomoko isn't going back to her home, she is going to come and stay with me," Izaya announced, stunning everyone in the room. Before anyone had a chance to react, Izaya had grabbed Tomoko by the hand and dragged her off.

"Let go off me, I'm not a toddler, I can walk by myself without you hanging on to me." She growled at him, attempting to jerk her hand out of his grasp.

"You couldn't the other day, if I remember correctly; you practically fell into my arms." He teased.

Tomoko just rolled her eyes and laughed, "Well, I'm ok now," was all she said, giving up and allowing herself to be dragged from Ikebukuro to Shinjuku by her friend.

When they arrived back, it was mid afternoon and the streets were bustling, it was a relief to be out of the streets and into the peace and quiet of Izaya's apartment.

"What about all my stuff?" She asked him, half-interested in what his answer would be to this question.

"All ready here, " Izaya said with a smug smile.

Tomoko narrowed her eyes, looking at him suspiciously "Did you arrange this to happen...?"

"For you to come and live here, yes, for you to get beaten the crap out of by your step-dad, of course not, like I said, you control the board now with me, you don't play on it." Izaya said as solemnly as he could, causing Tomoko to laugh.

"Hey, T.K-chan, do you remember when me made that little oath to always be friends when was little? We were such strange children..."

"You're still strange now Iz, and yes, I remember." Tomoko said , suddenly lost in thought.

**Author note: So the Russian translates to "Goodbye", and the next chapter is going to be about how Izaya and Tomoko became friends and basically some more details about Tomoko's past, coming from both of their POV's. Thanks for reading ~**


	4. Same time, Same place?

Tomoko's POV

I can hear them now, screaming at each other, and it's all because of me, is it bad that I think that that's almost good, people fighting over you. Well technically it's not that they are fighting over me, more what I did in school. We had an assignment, we had to write about what our favourite emotion was and most people, normal people, picked things like hope, love, happiness, excitement and joy, apart from me, I chose fear. I don't fear them, screaming at each over, or if my mother will carry out her threats about what she is going to do to me if she gets her hands on me.

It was my teacher who had phoned my mother and informed her of my work. She said that it was a good levelled piece but my way of thinking wasn't that of a 8 year old girl, that I may need to see a child psychologist to help me decipher my thoughts and what not. My mother just said that I needed to see an exorcist and put the phone done, she told me she was going to beat the devil out of me if a priest couldn't tempt it out of my, but I just laughed, like I say I don't fear her.

_Fear is my favourite emotion, because we learn to fear, we fear all sort of things, rational and irrational, fear is a motivator, it can make us or break us, lead us toward a path or away from it, we act out of fear constantly, we may kill someone in fear or fear to be killed by someone, everyone is fearful of something and once you have feared you have lived, i haven't found my fears yet, I do not fear monsters, or gangsters or heights or the dark or enclosed spaces. I am still trying to find my fear, because being scared if one of the best thrills in life, one I am missing out on and yet it is still my favourite emotion._

_Do you fear?_

The row downstairs was in full blaze, like a forest fire surging through trees, their words surged through walls and I couldn't stand it anymore, I needed to go for a walk.

"Clears you head a walk does." My dad had once told me, and right now my head was foggy with their angry words, so that's why I decided to do it, go to the park. I opened the window.

Do I fear? No, but do I dare? Yes, I love a dare. So I jumped, I wasn't high not at all, and I landed real neatly, like a cat, and like a cat, I was free to wander, and that's what I did, wander on down to the park in Shinjuku, only a few streets away from my house. I wasn't scared of walking there one my own

"If someone kidnapped you, they would soon give you back, after all, no one would want a bitch like you, not even your own mother." That's what that She-devil had always told me, and if I'm honest, I believe it, the part about The Kidnapping and Her not wanting me, not the rest.

I like parks, I always have done, because the atmosphere has the ability to calm someone like me, a loose cannon, that's what I've been called a problem child. Funny that the person saying it is the real problem.

The park was empty, apart from one person, a boy about my age was sitting by the monkey bars, he had raven black hair and he was sitting facing away from me, so I decided that it would be interesting to test out my theory on fear and see if I can make this boy jump.

I stalked up real quietly, as sly as a fox I climbed the monkey bars, I was pretty good at climbing, but not the best, and that was when I decided to scare him.

"BOO!" I shouted, swinging down, and almost bashing heads with him, and still he didn't jump, he just smirked.

I was still hanging there, upside-down when we began our conversation.

"You almost scared me." The boy said, his crimson eyes flashing with amusement.

"Almost?" I shot back.

"Yes, almost, you see I just don't fear surprise, maybe because I had expected the unexpected." He said, sounding a little bored.

That's when I told him what I thought about fear, and we talked, and talked, neither of us no longer bored, because we had each over to keep us interested in staying here in the empty park. We talked about all sorts of things we had observed about people, we were people watchers, it's what we enjoyed. We talked about the things no-one understood and things our mothers brushed off and things that were not normal for 8 year olds to be talking about. That was when we had realised we didn't even know the other person's name.

"Izaya Orihara" He had announced to me and I immediately christened him "Iz"

"Tomoko Akiyama" I had told him, and he then renamed me "T.K"

"Why T.K?" I asked him as we started to leave the park,

"Because, like in Digimon, no one could be bothered to say T.K's full name, and I can't be bothered to say yours, and anyway, T.K suits you better." He said with a laugh.

"You know, you are really interesting T.K –chan. Same time same place tomorrow?" He said, looking a little bit hopeful.

"Sure" I said, and then headed home, to listen to the ruckus downstairs until gone 3 in the morning.


	5. Blood Brothers

**Woop! Welcome back guys to Chapter 5, also a massive thanks to WolfWarrior01 for Favouriting this story~ Also, this chapter might be a bit shaky, so bare with meeee :)**

Not much really happened in the years to come, Izaya and Tomoko ended up going to the same middle school where they came to meet Shinra and eventually befriended him, well, Tomoko tolerated him, but she grew to like him. Not much happened in Middle School, both of them were as quiet as lambs, well, compared to what they would soon become anyway. Izaya and Shinra were good and pretty much any lesson that involved thinking, whilst Tomoko wasn't, but she was good at literacy, drama and sport, and entered many sport competitions and mostly did quite well. Nothing interesting to tell there.

It was just a day before Tomoko's 13th birthday that her father died, he had gone to Russia to visit family out there and "gotten ill and died", though Tomoko wasn't entirely sure if she believed that but he was dead and that was it. The end. Lights Out.

She was surprised by her lack of emotion to the news, she didn't cry, or shout and run off, she just shrugged "oh" and walked off, it was the first time someone close to her had died, so she didn't fear death of a loved one at that point in time.

"You look glum," Izaya had pointed out when she had got to the park that evening.

"Really?" She said, "My dad just died," She said with a shrug.

"Humans die all the time, everything has to die, right~" Izaya mused.

"Uh-huh, just don't expect me to throw flowers on your grave if you die before me." Tomoko joked.

The pair went silent for a bit, the only sound was a "click-click" sound, which Tomoko had noticed.

"What's that sound Izaya?" She asked, turning to look at her friend when a hand was clapped over her eyes and something cold and metallic pressed to her neck.

"Guess." Izaya purred, Tomoko realised his voice was coming from behind her.

'Damn he moves fast' was all she could think for the moment.

"A knife, Switchblade or something like that...?" She said, and the hand was removed along with the knife.

"Impressive, you didn't even panic, you never know, my hand might have slipped..."Izaya threatened lightly, sounding amused.

"It didn't" was all she said before the pair lapsed into silence once more.

It was almost closing time at the park, but it was still light outside, the hot June weather was starting to cool as ever so slowly the light faded...

"I got you a present." Izaya said quietly, breaking the silence and surprising Tomoko whom was away in a daydream. Izaya reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny parcel, wrapped in newspaper and handed into her. Tomoko wasn't a fan of guessing, but she did wonder what was inside. Carefully she unwrapped the news paper and into her lap fell a lock blade, it had a black metallic handle and when she pressed the button, a long,shiny, silver blade jumped out of its casing. Tomoko looked at it in awe,

"Thank you." She said, feeling awestruck, the knife was beautiful; she flipped it over carefully and saw a small "T.A" etched into the metal.

"Give me your hand." Tomoko demanded and to her surprise he complied. Gently she traced the knife over the palm of his hand, drawing blood from the small slice.

"Now you do the same." Tomoko said, hold out her outstretched hand. She felt a sharp sting and it was done. She then pressed her cut hand to his cut hand.

"Partners in crime?" She asked

"Partners in crime." Izaya confirmed and they shook hands.

And that was the beginning of their strange friendship, they could have easily have used the other person, but they were just too pleased to have another person that understood them.

This was also the same year that Tomoko's mother met her Step-dad, and her already shaky life became turbulent.

**I apologize for this awfully cringe chapter, I promise the next one will be better**


	6. Day 1 in Raijin Academy

**Welcome back to chapter six, where we have yet another jump forward in the past oh an anoher chapter from Tomoko's point of view. Enjoy~**

_I was looking down on a massive chessboard, but instead of game pieces, there were people, people I knew. I was losing the game, the only piece I had left was my king piece, Izaya opposing side, played by a person who's face I could not see had two pieces left, my mother and my stepfather._

"_Checkmate" I could hear my step-fathers booming voice from down on the board, I knew I had lost, but losing meant... _

"..So trust me, trust me, trust me; yeah." I reached out to silence my phone as it sung that stupid song and vibrated all the way off of my chest of drawers and onto the floor, making a loud bang. I managed to grab it (before anyone in the house stirred) and pressed "answer". I didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who would be ringing me this early in the morning.

"Awake at last sleepyhead~" A voice purred into her ear from down the phone. My suspicions were confirmed immediately.

"Mm, yeah, thanks for the wakeup call, literally, a "wake up" call." I croaked back, cringing at the sound of my own broken voice as I tried to sound sarcastic five minutes after being rudely awoken

"I might have to re-name you Sloth!"Izaya joked, his laughter too loud to be bearable this early in the morning, I am not a morning person.

"Say, T.K-Chan, do you know what today is~" He chirped down the phone.

I rubbed my eyes before answering his question, "I Dunno, your birthday or something...?"

"Don't play dumb, you _must _know what today is." He pried. "And it isn't my birthday for another month." He added.

"I'm not, I don't and sorry I forgot. Anyway you're the wanna-be informant, why don't _you _tell _me_?" I really wasn't ready for his games this early in the morning.

"Awh, you are so boring when you are tired and grumpy. Today is the first day of highschool! You have half an hour to get your sorry ass down to Raijin before school starts, oh and I'm waiting for you outside your house as we speak, hurry up I-" I didn't have time to hear the rest of what he was saying, I was late, very very late.

I showered quickly then started to get dressed, one peak out of the window told me that Izaya hadn't bothered with the uniform at all, but I gave it half a chance, I kept the blazer and the skirt, but ditched the shirt for my light pink hoodie and the black clumpy shoes for my purple skate shoes.

I tip-toed down the stairs, I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of my demon parents if I woke them up, I don't think the flustered, angry (and possible black-eyed) look is the best for the first day of a new school.

I dragged the hairbrush through my hair until all its layers and straightened out and cascaded (in my opinion) down my back, I then attacked my over-grown bangs, flicked them out my eyes and dodged around a maze of empty bottles of assorted alcohols to grab my bag, chucked my hairbrush into it along with my lock knife, grabbed my keys and bus pass then rushed out of the door and into the flood of sunlight.

"What time do you call this, Slow-Mo-ko." Izaya teased, dancing around me.

"I say its 8;00am, am I right Izzy-chan?" I shot back.

We both laughed and started to slowly make our way to school. During the holidays we decided to start a little "project" if you will, for our own amusement and later benefit. We had decided that there was no point waiting to find out what our new class-mates and teachers would be like when we could find out and have the upper hand on them beforehand, and my we had found out some interesting little spoilers and dirty little secrets. We had also decided to "liven" the school up a bit, and we both had out own separate ideas, but it was basically a little game between us, whoever had to most followers by the end of our time here at Raijin, wins. Both of us had tried to tempt Shinra to be on our side but he firmly told us that he "was staying out of our sick games." Bummer.

There is a heavy flow of students entering the school, and a uniform check was being initiated as they all walked through, both me and Izaya were pulled straight over.

"This is not regulation clothing." A grey haired woman who went by the name of Chiyo Kita snapped at us. I thought fast, what did we find out about her? Oh yep, that was it.  
"Well, neither is wearing another man's underwear on your head but your husband doesn't complain, well, he doesn't know so..." I trailed off, daring the now palled woman to challenge me.

"If I let you through, you will not mention that again, understood?" She hissed, though she was clearly not looking as tough as she was before we broke that little home truth to her. Izaya just shrugged and we walked on through

"That project can come in handy after all." I said with a laugh

"The advantages of being friends with a wanna-be information broker." Izaya replied, nudging me.

I laughed as I turned back to see a boy about our age getting scolded for having his hair dyed blond, too bad for him that he isn't in on our little project. Sucks to be you.

"Akiyama Tomoko?" A voice boomed the second I walked into the classroom.

"Yeah over here." I waved casually and took a seat at the back ignoring the peeved look my new teacher was giving me, looks like I had arrived just in time. A few more names were called out until "Orihara Izaya" was eventually called. Then we all split off into our first lesson, which I would be having without Izaya, but with Shinra. Maths. As I turned to leave I caught sight of Izaya giving the eye to the boy with the blond hair through the window.

"Ooh, found yourself a boyfriend Iz?" I joked before leaving to head to maths with Shinra, who thankfully seemed that he had learnt his way around the school by arriving there early.

"Nope, just finding myself a new plaything~" I heard his voice sing down the corridor to me.

Turns out that Blondie was in the same maths class as me and Shinra and it also turns out that Shinra knew this blond bulk.

"Tomoko Akiyama, this is Shizuo Heiwajima, he is a really tough guy so don't annoy him, I know what you're like, and when I mean tough, I mean insanely strong" Shinra warned me

"Shizuo Heiwajima this is Tomoko Akiyama, known as T.K-Chan by her...urm...friends?" Shinra tested out gently, wondering if I was going to say something like "I don't have friends" but I just gave him a nod.

"Yeah, she is...devilish in a good way if you stay on her good side" Shinra concluded. That Shizuo guy held out his hand for me to shake it but I just left him hanging, I'm not much of a handshaker, but I gave him a nod of acknowledgment instead.

"What should I call you?" He asked, breaking my thoughts on how to go about answering this stupid algebra question.

"Mary." I said sincerely. "By my name obviously!" I mocked, and then burst out laughing.

"No, like T.K-Chan or Tomoko, Ko, Akiyama..." His voice trailed off, clearly he wasn't used to talking to girls, or anyone for that matter, it was a shame Izaya had claimed him first, I'm sure he would have been a very interesting specimen to make and break.

"Just Tomoko." I said, before turning back around and copying Shinra's work whilst he wasn't looking.

I had Social Studies next, on my own, and I didn't see the Shinra, Izaya or Shizuo again until the fight broke out, and that's when I realized that Shinra wasn't exaggerating when he said that Shizuo was strong, but I had my money on Izaya, I do running as my main sport but I still couldn't ever lay a scratch on him when we played at fencing with our knives. It was then, as I watched the fight play out from the window that I met my worst enemy and my very own plaything , Rei Suzuki.


	7. Introducing Rei Suzuki!

**Wow, welcome back to chapter 7! We are halfway through our story now *roughly* anyway thank you all you reviewers, now, without further a do...**

"You came here to check out the eye candy too?" A sweet voice came from behind me, although it surprised me, it didn't make me jump, mainly because the voice didn't sound menacing but also because I'm used to Izaya Orihara sneaking up on me. I turned round and flicked my bangs out my eyes so I could get a better look at the owner of the soft voice, when I saw her, I couldn't believe a voice like that came from her.

She was taller than me by a good few inches, standing at 5"9, I felt instantly dwarfed by this girl whom I was expecting to me much shorter than me. I looked up to see her face, it was pale white, as if someone had chucked a bag of flour over her, but her hair was black, pitch black, blacker than Izaya's hair, her own ebony hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and she had her own outgrown bangs pulled over onto either side of her high cheek-boned face, framing it perfectly. Her blue-gray eyes stared intently at me, although they were soft, I had the impression that she wasn't as innocent as she seemed. She was the vision of tidiness, not a hair out of place, she smiled at me then, I guess she was a bit gullible too; I wasn't looking at her as if i were trying to be friendly, more sizing her up.

"Suzuki, Rei Suzuki!" She said meekly, she must have been brought up well, those manners were forced.

"Akiyama, Tomoko Akiyama." I parroted back, for decency's sake.

"Nice name, " She said with a smile "So, you never answered my question," she probed.

"I guess I didn't, no I am not checking out the "eye-candy" but I am checking out the fight,"I replied to her, this friendship lark was easy, and she was taking the bait, it's amazing how all I have got to do is turn on the charm and I have people practically throwing themselves at me, didn't they learn not to trust so easily?

"Oh, well thats what I'm doing, I like the look of that blond, whew he is irresistible!" she breathed, the lust practically dancing in her eyes. Talk about comical, she was practically dribbling, I wouldn't have been surprised if her nose had started bleeding but maybe I had just watched too much anime.

"My bet is that the blond is going to win," she chattered excitedly, she didn't have a mute button sadly.

"What, Shizuo Heiwajima? Naah, I think it's going to be Izaya Orihara." I said simply, turning to walk off when I was literally pounced on and bombarded with question.

"You know them? Will you introduce me?! Will you set me up with the blond?! Do you think they will like me?! Oh my gosh, you are my new best friend forever."

If I wasn't going to break this stupid obsessive girl in the future, I would have probably smacked her round the face and told her to shut up and back off, but I just smacked a smile on my face and turned and spoke to her in the best bubbly voice I could muster.

"I'm not cupid, but I will do my best!" Before dashing it down the stairs as the bell rung for the end of the day and take off after Izaya, it was as I was running that the idea stuck me, set Rei up with Shizuo and turn them against each-over using none other than me.

So for the next few months I had to deal with the socially awkward Shizuo and the over obsessive Rei, lady luck seemed to favour me seeing as the end of term dance was fast approaching and my plan was finally falling together.

Shizuo and I were stuck in Math detention together; I had sat across the room from him staring out the window, swaying my feet lazily on the table in front of me when his voice disturbed my thoughts.

"Hey, Tomoko..." he began. "So, er, you see that, er... don't worry..." he broke off. I turned around to face him, seeing him look red would have been a picture for an album but I choked down my laugh

"No, no, you have my attention, I'm interested, curious what-not and anyway, I'm not a cat so I won't get killed..." I purred to him, giving him my best half smile and making my eyes go all big, _play innocent _ I thought to myself.

"Well, it's just that I wondered, oh y'know that dance, well, I wondered, if you wanted to, if you would want to go with...me?" He stammered.

"Awh, thanks Shizzy, but I'm not much of a fan of dancing," I lied drastically "Anyway, I don't want to dash the dreams of a particular young girl who would kill to go with you..." I said, trying my best to sound all sweet.

"You're going with someone already...aren't you?" He asked softly, his face now a shade similar to Izaya's eyes.

"No, like a say, not much of a dancer me." I said, looking and the clock and deciding it was time to leave. "Пока!" I called, as I walked out the door, giving him a little wave.

"You're Russian?!" Shizuo shouted, sounding amazed "I never knew that..."

"Well you learn something new every day huh?" I called back, before dashing down the corridor and out onto the courtyard, none other than Rei Suzuki was sitting there, waiting, though I guess she was waiting more for Shizuo than for me, I was probably her excuse.

"Is Shizuo still in there then?" She asked sounding disappointed, I comfirmed her disappointment with a nod.

"But guess what? Shizuo Heiwajima asked me to the dance!" I told her, I watched with an inward smirk was the blood drained from her face.

"Wha-what...did you..." She stammered, staggering a little, I found it amazing that Shizuo was oblivious to her affection towards him , he still put the "accidently on purpose" brush of hands down to an accident.

"I said no." I relived her of her pain, but changed it into anger. "Why would I want to go to a dance with a freak like that, I mean talk about a fairy elephant, I don't know what I would die of, being crushed to death or the embarrassment of turning up there with _him._" I said disgusted.

If looks could kill I would have been dead, but I just neatly skipped ahead and headed for home, ready for the fun that was about to begin, I didn't particularly feel bad about saying those things, I didn't have anything against Shizuo but he did make me feel a bit awkward, oh well at least that problem would be solved. The second I had gotten in, I informed my informant friend of the recent turn of events, and together we thought out a plan, in the background of the call, I could hear game pieces being moved, and the air around me had seemed to shift, it was most definitely the calm before the storm...

**Chapter 8 will be up shortly! Ohhh Tomoko is up to trouble, what do you think she will do next? Oh and the Russian translates to "bye" if anyone was wondering.**


	8. Raijin Highschool Fight Club

**First off, I would just like to say a big thank you to all my lovely reviewers, you have made me feel so much more confident and I am really starting to enjoy writing this in my spare time! So without further ado, let us discover what scheme Izaya and Tomoko have thought up.**

I was walking down the endless corridors that stank of disinfectant, flanked by Iza-kun, when I saw them, Shizuo and Rei, both of them looking at the pair of us like they would give anything to grow Vectors and behead us on the spot but of course, this isn't an anime, so they can't do something like that, all they could do was hope that looks could kill, slowly and painfully. It was when we reached hearing range of the other that we, Izaya and I, put our little plan to action.

"Hey, T.K-Chan~ , I was wondering if you would have been interested in going to the school dance with me...?" He asked craftily, the plan was going swimmingly well, and my, the look on Shizu-chan's face!

"Of course I will!" I said, doing my best to sound like a schoolgirl crushing over a boy that she hoped would notice her and finally did. I flung my arms round him in one of my special bone-crushing hugs.

"Put that boy down Akiyama Tomoko!" A hard faced teacher scolded me as she rushed by, clomping away in her high heels, clomping out of hearing range until there was only the deafening silence that drummed into our ears.

"You bastard flea-" Shizuo growled, stepping forward to kill us both but Rei-chan flung her arm out to stop him.

"No, let me handle this." A dark, insidious voice growled, a voice that did not belong to the body of Rei Suzuki, but it was her, saying it. I too took a step forward.

"Listen up you Russian bitch, you stay the fuck away from Shizuo, what possesses you to be so sick and play with people and manipulate their movements like some sort of voodoo Barbie doll?" She hissed

"...But it's ok, because me and Shizuo-kun know what you are really like, a mean, cold hearted, evil she-devil. You and Izaya deserve each over, you can keep each over company whilst you have your arses roasted off down in Hell. At least you have someone to love you, because I'm damn well sure none of your family do! I'm there for Shizuo, who's there for you?" She spat at me.

'Was this...my mother speaking...or perhaps...my step father...? I...'

Tomoko's face paled a touch, as if she was seeing, or more likely, hearing a ghost. Her eyes widened and the pupils smalled and a crazed, psychotic grin spread across her face, Tomoko, who was the example of cool, calm, composure in a fight, had suddenly been plunged into the thick , black waters of psychosis. They say that people who have suffered some sort of childhood trauma don't always think the same as others, that they become unhinged at reminders of their trama, Post Tramatic Stress Disorder. Rei hadn't realized that she had parroted Tomoko's cold-hearted mother almost word for word, but she was about to pay for it.

"Well, at least you are there from someone, is that to make up for the fact your mother wasn't there for you? That she lies rotting in the ground, and you were left to raise yourself? Is that why you wear that locket, in hope that there is a guardian angel up there in the sky that is there for you? Not anymore." Tomoko hissed like the snake Lucifer presented himself as. In a few fast paces Tomoko was practically nose to nose with Rei, she sized her up for a second or two before lunging for her neck.

Tomoko had grabbed Rei's neck with her left hand and with her right hand, groped around for the chain of the locket. In one hard, swift yank, the chain snapped and Tomoko flew backwards a couple of steps, clutching the chain.

"Say bye bye!" She crooned, before throwing the glass necklace to the ground and shattering the glass picture of Rei's mother under her skate shoe, grinding the shards into something less than atoms.

Rei lost it, she flew forward and threw a hard punch at Tomoko's head. Quick as a fox, Tomoko ducked, grabbing her wrist and twisting it, ignoring Rei's gasps of pain. Tomoko wasn't ready for Reis second punch, which she threw with her weaker hand, her fist crashed into the side of her temple, throwing Tomoko backwards but her grasp on Rei was firm and Rei was forced forward with her. The girls fell to the floor, Tomoko's should making an unpleasant crunch under the weight of Rei. Tomoko forced herself up to her feet and grabbed Rei by her silky, ebony hair, and with her free hand punched her in the face.

"Я тебя ненавижу!" Tomoko hissed, kicking Rei to the ground and straddling her. Quick as a flash Tomoko had brandished her lock knife and held it high, scaring the helpless Rei Suzuki with the blade before plunging it down...

The force of what probably felt similar to being hit by a speeding car crashed into Tomoko, throwing the knife out of her hand which slid across the corridor. Tomoko flew down the corridor, wincing as she hit the wall. When she finally looked up she saw Shizuo just in front of her, also lying on the floor. He had rugby tackled Tomoko off of Rei in a desperate, spur of the moment attempt to save both of the girls from the other.

Tomoko got up, scrambling to her feet, ignoring the blood flow from the back of her head and made towards Rei, walking with a heavy limp.

"Don't cross me, don't even look at me... don't aggravate me." Said Tomoko, seething.

"I'll do what I want, don't tell me what to do you psychotic bitch!" Rei shouted, shaking with anger.

"Then I'll do what I want then hmm?" Tomoko proclaimed, something shifting in her voice as she staggered back to where Shizuo was sitting and dropped down beside him.

"I'll do what I want alright." Tomoko repeated grasping Shizuo's face in her hand and before anyone could react, she kissed him softly on the lips, they stayed like that for about 3 seconds before they broke apart, Tomoko turned to give Rei a shit-eating grin.

"I'll kill you, I'll cut you like a fish!" Rei screamed, loud enough to make the dead turn in their graves. She dived forward reaching for Tomoko's knife to follow out her threat when a shiny black shoe trod down on the lock knife, obstructing her from grabbing the sharp object.

"That isn't yours" Izaya warned as he picked the knife up and folded it, handing it gently to Tomoko and pulling her up.

"We will be on our way, thank you for making my day so interesting," Izaya purred with a small wave, gently he guided Tomoko through the crowd which no one had seen gather and out down the stairs. School was finished for the day now anyway. Shizuo stayed sitting on the floor, dumbstruck.

When the pair emerged out of the gates, Shinra was there, sitting on the wall waiting for them both.

"So is what I hear true?" Shinra said, his eyes sparking as he retold the scandalous practically word for word.

Tomoko gave a small nod, grasping her shoulder in pain.

"Yep, thats it! I am extremely impressed with Tomoko, she has done her job well, this is why I love my humans so much, especially Tomoko, though she is definitely above humanity. Though I am a little disappointed you kissed Shizu-chan of all people, but I know it was just to aggravate Rei-chan so I forgive you." Izaya said, giving Tomoko a hug to which she yelped in pain.

"Hug me again like that whilst my shoulder is practically hanging off and you'll be hugging the pavement. " Tomoko threatened, though laughing a little at the end of her empty threat. "Anyway, I only did that because Shizuo is Rei's pressure point, along with her mother. Her fear is losing the ones she loves to someone else, so I did what would affect her most. Everyone has fears and everyone has pressure points" She winced again as a sharp pain shot through her shoulder as she finished her explanation

"I think your shoulder is dislocated, you two should come back to mine and I'll pop it back into place." Shinra said to the troublemaking duo, both of them agreed with him and they headed to his house.

After Shinra had re-located Tomoko's shoulder, he began discussing what he had learned about psychology and complexes.

"Izaya, don't take this the wrong way, but from what I have been learning, you could be a possible Sociopath with a God Complex." Shinra had told him, taking off his glasses and cleaning them before placing them back on his head

"But Tomoko, I'm not quite sure what you are, you are also abnormal in your behaviours and the way you talk about things like what people fear and what their pressure points are, it is truly an amazing idea to have, but its the way you use those ideas. You are extremely confident as well as proud of the way you look, and pride is your biggest sin, making you a definite Narcissist but there is something more, you don quiet fit into a complex, maybe you are your own complex, the Tomoko Complex." Shinra summed up. And with that pleasant thought in mind that the fact they were messed in the head, Tomoko and Izaya turned and left.

As they walked down the road that would lead them their separate ways, Izaya stopped suddenly and turned to face her.

"You know, my offer still stands about the dance, I am saying this seriously not as just for some plan to hurt people, that is, if you actually do want to go with me of course..." Izaya said, turning to look at his shoes for a second before looking back.

"Of course I'd go with you Iza-kun." Tomoko said with a small smile, the sad kind.

Izaya looked at her and gently stepped forward, her held her face in his hands and closed his eyes and kissed her. They stayed like that, kissing on the street corner for what seemed like an eternity before Tomoko pushed Izaya back.

"I do need to breathe you know." She scolded him as she gasped for air, "I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that she turned and run down the street.

**A/N: I actually loved writing this chapter, *excluding the awkward kissing parts which I am terrible at writing* I loved being about to write about Tomoko in her true light, about the way she switches so quickly and how she goes to any length to make sure she gets what she wants, *other people's suffering* even if that means hurting her own friends to get to that. I also really enjoyed writing about the different ways she interacts with Izaya and their strange friendship or whatever it is they have between them. Anyway, just one more chapter in the past before we head back to the future T.K and Iza, then the rest of what I have left to write about will be in the future future. Thanks for reading all this nonsense. Oh and I promise the next chapter won't be as cringe! Oh and by the way, the Russian translates to "I hate you." ^-^**

**-SilverGhostII**


	9. Missing

**Sorry for not updating yesterday, I wasn't around at all but it giving me a day off has been good for me to think about how to play this chapter out, I really didn't know how to go about it. Anyway, sit tight. This is the last chapter in the past before we go back to the future, enjoy!**

I didn't see her the next day, or the next, or the next. I didn't see her for the whole week. I rung her and her phone went straight to voicemail. She never turned her mobile off. I asked around, no one knew where she was and if they did, they didn't tell me.

"Shinra, have you seen T.K-Chan anywhere?" I had asked him. I hated not knowing things, and not knowing things that I should know about was even worse.

"Err...no...No, I definitely have not seen Tomoko at all." Shinra, as firm as he tried to sound, was terrible at lying, I told him so too.

"You can't lie to save your life Shinra, you can't fool me." I said exasperatedly. Shinra remained silent.

_It was strange, not knowing things, it wasn't so much the where is was more the why that baffled me. Why isn't she here? She never has a day off school; she would have told me if she was going to anyway, where was she? Why was she there-?_

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you think you do Izaya, I thought you knew your "humans" well, I thought you knew Tomoko well, but I think you do..." Shinra shifted uncomfortably, not looking me in the eyes. What was that supposed to mean anyway? I am the God of Ikebukuro, I know my humans well, like a well loved book that has been read cover to cover more than once. When I looked up, Shinra had gone, leaving me standing outside my house. Quietly I unlocked the door, pushed past the twins who were asking irritating questions about "when Tomoko was next coming round." I didn't answer them because I didn't know...

I threw myself down on my bed and began to think.

"Maybe she's doing it as a joke, thinks it's funny to annoy me? Make me look stupid? She's wrong. I am always right...no, no, that's not it... maybe...maybe Shinra's right, I don't know anything about her really, I know everything she likes, dislikes, loves, hates but nothing about her _life_ just the stupid stuff that people thing are important, like favourite colours. What is her home life like...

Maybe she's gone back to Russia, wait, why would she go there, there isn't anyone to see, her life is in Japan now, right?

Maybe Shinra's right, no,yes,no yes, no...yes... maybe I'm scared of losing my only best friend, the only person worthy of being classes as above humanity...maybe...maybe.."

"What was that..?" I was thinking so hard that I didn't notice the time, 11:03pm. But I did notice the knock, knock, knock at the window and found myself walking towards the window to open it.

"Such a cliché, NEVER open the window, stupid bitch is gonna get sliced..." I could her saying through a mouthful of popcorn. The thought making me laugh, but I still opened the window.

"Never open the window." A dark, rusty voice growled somewhere from outside. The shock made me stumble backwards and fall.

"Now that's a sight for sore eyes, Izaya Orihara, the God of Ikebukuro, scared of something as sweet and innocent as meeee?" I saw the glint of a knife and the shine of teeth. Only one person I know who chews the tip of a knife.

"Yep, it's me, what? You look like you just saw a ghost." She laughed, climbing into my room and immediately making herself at home by sprawling across my bed.

_Knew she would come crawling back, why wouldn't she? She wouldn't leave me like that, she-_

That was when I noticed the huge, thin line that started somewhere among her bangs and ended just above her mouth, almost the whole length of her left cheek. Her hair was pulled down to cover the worst of it. The mark looked faded.

"What happened, tell me Tomoko, I hate not knowing, it's my job to know anything and everything ,sooo?" I asked.

Tomoko stood up and grabbed two chess pieces and sat back down, patting the space beside her, gesturing for Izaya to sit down beside her, which he obliged to.

"This is me. She said, passing him the Queen piece

"And this is you." She said, holding up the King piece.

"You use me, and I'll use you, and vice versa, after all, life is a game of chess, a war game, it's good to have some allies in war."

Izaya nodded slowly, understanding where she was coming from

"Well you're ready to know what happened now then..." She went on to explain to Izaya about her life at home, her step-father, her mother, how they treat her and why. After she had finished the pair sat in silence.

"I didn't stand you up for a joke m'kay? Just I didn't wanna look like a freak show, it would make Rei's day. But it doesn't mean we still can't dance, right?" She said, springing up and putting on a CD

"Shall we dance?"


	10. Graduation

**Ok, so we are back to the older T.K, just to clear up any confusion. Anyway, enjoy!**

_Sunlight? How is it morning, it was only 5 minutes ago that I was sitting on the sofa, talking to Izaya...wait, this isn't the sofa..._

"GET OFF OF MEEEEE!" I wanted to shout, but he looked so peaceful, even if he was strangling me with a sort or headlock hug. It was kind of funny really, he wouldn't actually hug me like that, but the subconscious does strange things to your mind so I'll let him off.

_How did I get here?_

Oh that's right, I live here now, and I probably fell asleep on the sofa and well, got carried here. I looked down; yep, still wearing my normal clothes...exhale.

I reached up to drag my fingers through my tangled bangs, forgetting about the stitches and scratching the wound they were holding together.

"Ouch!" I shouted, shooting forward, waking up a groggy and surprised Izaya who pretty much fell out of bed in shock, dragging me down with him. Bang. We both hit the floor, hard. The pain sparking up my spine.

"Aw, thanks for waking me up so nicely T.K-Chan, you didn't have to throw me out of bed, I didn't fidget that much!" Izaya sung. How could someone be so damn annoying so early in the morning?

"You should have left me on the sofa you perv." I said, standing up and giving him a small kick in the ribs before getting up to get ready.

"Last day of being a slave to education!" I shouted out to Izaya "Have you got the book of info?" I asked as a I yanked my jumper over my head and chucking my blazer on, tightening my shoe laces.

"Of course I have, I wouldn't let the World down, I'm sure everyone is _dying _to know about what secrets this book holds, well, they will know soon enough!

We had been told we had to do our speech either on our own or in pairs, of course, me and Izaya had paired up, we had a little treat planned for today's audience.

"Akiyama Tomoko and Orihara Izaya." A voice called, it was one of our old teachers, one who's name I couldn't be bothered to remember as I had to remember more important things like how many cracks are in the wall, that sort of thing.

We both stepped forward, looking among the sea of students and parents. Neither of my parents would be here, they didn't even know where I was, and I didn't even care. Both of Izaya's parents were away on business, no surpise there.

I had to talk first.

"Greetings~, when we were told we had to plan a speech, I decided to make one based upon the lives of the _wonderful_ people around me." I started, turning to look at Izaya to signal him to speak.

"Yes, so of course you are dying to know what exactly we are about to speak about, well, the things that the students around us got up to during their time at Raijin. So without further ado..."

One by one, we had read out each student's deepest, darkest secrets, and it wasn't too long before fights broke out into the crowds, punches were flying, girls were screaming and teachers tried to settle the whole situation down, until some of them started to fight. I could see Rei-Chan giving me the evil eye, so I gave her my best smirk. You could feel the tension in the air, thick and suffocating, so Izaya and I took this time to gather our things and slip off into the craze of the crowd. No one had seemed to have noticed, well, Rei Suzuki did, she counts as a no-one. I can see her now, standing back from the riots, staring at me with those cold, grey eyes, which seemed to have clouded over, like the sky overcast with angry storm clouds. She had angry eyes, they were smouldering, her face was ashen, I took one long last look back at her, knowing it would possibly be the last time I would ever see my little piece of amusement before I left this academy forever. She looked deep into my eyes, the sort of look that would penetrate the depths of one's soul, luckily for me though, I didn't feel a thing, completely soulless is me. She pointed at me with a long finger, an accusatory finger, like the one someone would point at a murderer, before she slowly dragged it across her throat, mouthing the words "You're dead".

I couldn't help but grin, feeling my eyes light up. Bring it, I am always up for a round 2, be it a physical, verbal or psychological fight, I would win it. No questions asked. I couldn't help but to look forward to what the future might bring...

**EDIT: Thanks so much guys, feel a lot better now :)**


	11. Revenge

**Thank you guys, you made me feel so much more confident. Ok welcome to chapter 11 everyone **

**Two (and a bit) years on.**

The sky was clouded over heavily by thick angry storm clouds, the type that look like they are so thick and low that they could fall out the sky. A roll of thunder roared across the city, some people even hid in shops, expecting the onslaught of rain to begin any second, but for now at least, it seemed the weather would hold out. Tomoko was eager to get home, she had overheard Izaya's phone conversation with this client that had phoned today, sounded like whatever they had to say, had to be said in person, and then there was the discussion of payment. _Interesting._

Tomoko loved the rain, the way it beat down on the Earth, how people run from it but really it was lovely. When she was younger, Tomoko would sit out in the rain until it would look like she had taken a bath in her clothes. It was the smell of the air after the rain that Tomoko loved, it just relaxed her, it was her favourite smell, she loved the different smells of the air.

Tomoko got up out of her booth in Russia Sushi and paid Simon,

"Пока" Tomoko said to him with a little wave, Simon gave her a huge smile and waved back. Simon was also one of those people that could make her relax, there was some sort of... aura... around Simon, but maybe it was his happiness that seemed to spread to everyone. Slowly Tomoko made her way back to her/Izaya's home, the streets were actually surprisingly crowded so she decided to take a short cut, something she had been told never to do when she was younger, not that she cared or listened.

"Hey boys, lookey here, If it isn't Akiyama." A voice called from in the alleyway that Tomoko was walking down. Tomoko slowly drew her knife.

"Don't be like that babe, we only wanna have some fun with you," She felt herself being pushed against a wall, she could see this thugs ugly face leering at her, inches away from hers, her arm was twisted so her knife was rendered useless.

"I would like to kick you in the teeth, but why would I improve your looks." Tomoko growled, her eyes narrowed. As if in response, the thug (who seemed to wear a lot of blue) grabbed her face and forced his mouth upon hers, Tomoko winced at the clink of their teeth, but this guy was about to learn a valuable lesson, with all the force, she bit down hard on his tongue, ignoring the blood, she just bit harder. The blue guy stumbled backwards, both of them spitting up blood.

"You bitch; I'll get you for this!" He shot forward with a knife, but Tomoko deftly blocked it with her own, before scrambling up a dumpster, then up on a roof.

"Gotta catch me first!" she called, watching was the guy couldn't even climb up a bin, she laughed, turned and made her way home via parkour methods, which she wasn't as good as Izaya was, (always left behind) but pretty decent on her own. 4 roof top jumps, 2 staircases, 7 pipes and countless small objects later, she had arrived home.

She noticed first off that the door was ajar, and that the client had just arrived, seeing as she saw the back of their head disappearing up the stairs in front of her when she arrived. Carefully she listened in, looking through the gap in the door.

"I couldn't tell you over the phone, and I wouldn't have come to someone like you if you didn't know best about this. I need information, as much as you have, on Tomoko Akiyama." There was that thick heavy silence, with was broken slightly by the counting of money.

"Is this enough?" The voice said, the voice, Tomoko soon realised, of Rei Suzuki.

"Nope." Izaya said, sitting down on the sofa, looking disinterested, he thought maybe this client would be interesting, not just some bitchy woman who held a grudge against Tomoko. He could see the chess pieces in his mind, the game couldn't be played without one or both of those pieces. He looked across at his own game, the Go board with other games pieces on. It wasn't worth it, no.

"Well, maybe I could pay you the rest in another way?" Rei said, the tone in her voice switching to a more enticing tone.

"Oh? Like how?" Izaya said, looking intently at Rei. Maybe she was going to be more interesting than he thought.

Slowly Rei sat down on the same sofa, before slowly crawling over to him, her grey eyes sparking with...malice...of sorts. She pinned Izaya down and kissed him hard.

Tomoko raised her eyebrows. "Never had Rei down for a slag! Hmm, if only Shizzy saw this, well, He can..." She raised her phone and took a few pictures.

"I wonder what Tomoko would do if she saw this." Rei purred.

'So this is what she's playing at, trying to seduce information out of me? Ha, stupid human.' A voice disturbed his thoughts.

"Well, it was more interesting to watch your little scene than the TV Rei-Chan. Oh, and to answer your question, well, I took some photos, a nice bit of evidence if you ask me, anyway I'll be off now, people to see, that sort of thing. Well, I'll give you two some privacy. And a little tip for you Rei, Izaya isn't the way to get back at me," Tomoko grabbed the nearest coat (Izaya's) and flung it on, marched down the steps and out into the open of Shinjuku, just as she stepped out, the clouds unleashed the rain and it beat down hard on the earth, heavy rain was Tomoko's favourite, but she had to flick up her hood, she couldn't get soaking when she had people to see.

"Izaya!" A voice shouted. Heh, people have small attention to detail, she would have carried on walking but she recognised the voice as Kadoka's

"Hey Dotachin!" Tomoko said, walking up to the van where the usual gang sat.

"Oh, Tomoko, sorry, just the coat..." Kadota trailed off.

"Its fine, no need to apologize." Tomoko said, cutting his apology short, she turned to leave, bit awkward just standing there.

"Hey, Tomoko, you wanna lift?" Saburo called, from inside the van

"Yeah sure, you think you could drop me at Shizuo's house?" She asked as she climbed in, ignoring the screams from Erika and Walker. Kadota turned to give her a strange look. Which she dismissed by raising her eyebrows.

**A few minutes later...**

"Well thank for the lift." Tomoko said, dashing off, her head hurt, she saw a more creative side to Erika's imagination that she would had liked to see, and did she mention that her head hurt? Tomoko shook her head and rung the doorbell, hearing the echo on the other side...footsteps...pause...door opens.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Tomoko dodged a punch that was thrown at her head. She chucked her hood back.

"It's me." She said, pushing her way past Shizuo, hanging her coat up and sitting down.

"I didn't say you could come in." Shizuo growled.

"Nope, but you would have down." Tomoko countered.

"Why are you here? You don't just drop by to see me, did the fl- I mean Izaya send you?" Shizuo said, tensing up.

"No, I sent myself; I have something to show you." Carefully she selected a picture of Rei and Izaya and showed it to him

"Keep your bitch under control; tell her to stop trying to get back at me for something that happened over 4 years ago. She is only going to hurt herseld" Tomoko said, standing to leave. Shizuo was silent, and that was worrying, carefully she backed out of his house, grabbing her coat. "Sorry Shizuo, but no one plays like that with me." She added, before shutting the door behind her. She wished she could have seen Shizuo's face when he next see's Rei, but looks like luck wasn't going to play out that way for her.

The rain had finally stopped when Tomoko finally got in.

"What time do you call this?" Izaya joked. To which Tomoko just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okayyy so where did you go." Izaya pried.

"Shizzy's house." She paused, waited for the reaction before adding "To show him the pictures, not because I was going to so the same thing that Rei done." Tomoko gave a slight shudder, she couldn't tell if it was because she was soaking wet or the thought caused her to shake.

"Well, you have gone beyond my expectations once again, and that is why you are the best" Izaya said with a smirk.

"You don't have to tell me, I already know..." Tomoko grinned

"Hey Tomoko, listen, Rei wasn't the only one who came here looking or information on you, I had a phone call today... look, don't worry, I dismissed it..." Izaya broke off. "Let's just watch some TV and forget I said that." Tomoko tried to do that, but she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach, because the expression on Izaya's face wasn't the most reassuring one.

**I loved writing this Chapter! And who else would want to know about Tomoko, do you have any ideas? Might update again tonight or if not, then tomorrow **


	12. No Mercy

_"Checkmate!" The ominous voice seemed to roll around me everywhere._

_"How do I get out of checkmate?" I shouted, staring up into the black sky,_

_"By using a piece you wouldn't normally use like this!" It boomed back._

_Then I was falling, falling into the dark abyss, falling into nothingness, and the feeling went on forever until I hit, hit with such a force my bones shattered into a million pieces and I lay there, broken. Then the light flickered on, lighting up one half of me and leaving the other half overcast by the dark._

_"GAME OVER" The words floated all around me, I tried to scream but no sound came out, I was left here to rot..._

I woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard and gasping for air, the dream shook me up, but the cold, relentless grip of the nightmare had slowly released me, leaving me sitting there, feeling numb all over. I felt a few shudders tear through me like an electric current before I managed to get a grip on myself. I exhaled loudly and turned to look at the alarm, as I turned, I wasn't expect Izaya's face so close to mine and only managed to bite back a scream by biting my tongue. He looked rough, he had panda eyes and his own crimson eyes glinted eerily in the dark, in a similar fashion my own maroon ones do, but still, no excuse for scaring me.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I asked, lying back down and looking up at the ceiling.

"Nope, in fact you didn't let me sleep, fidgeting all night, talking in your sleep, that sort of thing, you know the usual." Izaya informed me as he studied my face, "What were you dreaming about? C'mon, you can tell meeee~" He inquired, looking amused. Heh, not gonna get it out of me that easily, so I decided to play along

"Oh, pervy things!" I said airily, turning over and yanking the cover over my head.

"It isn't nice to lie to those who are close to you...you were having a bad dream weren't you, but you felt safe because I was here, cuteeee~" I could hear him chirping away, sounding like some sort of bird that sings its same repetitive song day and night. I didn't reply to him, I just pretended to be asleep and, after a few seconds, I did fall asleep, a dreamless, deep sleep...

From the minute I woke up, dream long forgotten about, I knew today wasn't going to go well, I was still curious about who had called and asked for information on me yesterday, but curiosity killed the cat and unlike a cat, I didn't have nine lives to throw away willy-nilly. But like I may or may not have said, I have a great sense of danger, and depending on the day, I may run towards it or I may run away from it. But today didn't seem dangerous, just something made me feel uneasy. I had a simple job to do today, I had to follow (stalk) some girl called...wait.. oh yeah that was it, Akemi Oshiro, she had bleached blond hair, long dead straight hair, but a dead beat personality, 'parently she is going to see someone "important" and Iz "_needs_" to know where this place is ,  
that sort of blah blah.

I waved a farewell to Izaya, promising to do my best as I usually do (do my best I mean) and shut the door. That chlorine disinfectant typed smell hit me hard as I walked down the stairs, smelt so strong I was positive that the cleaner was trying to kill us all. The smell made me feel lightheaded and a bit wobbly, so it was a great relief to be out and into the open, fresh(ish) air. I loved the smells of the city, food smells, car smells, trees and perfumes all of that lot. I breathed it in, relishing it's warm smell before continuing down the street.

Buzz. I reached for my phone and clicked

1 new message. "She'll be in that manga store, watch out for Erika and co! –Iz x" after reading it I put my phone back in my pocket of my jogging bottoms and continued on towards the store, hoping that the manga loving duo wouldn't be in there and blow my cover, but thankfully, when I walked in, it seemed that the coast was clear, just a few Randomers and Akemi. I carefully scooted around to the opposite side of the shelf that she was on, unfortunately the opposite side seemed to be Yaoi section, talk about cringey and awkward. I parted the books quietly and slightly, just so I could see where she was going now, looks like she brought the book and was leaving. I quickly grabbed the nearest manga (on a different section of course) which turned out to be Deadman Wonderland; I paid for it as I vowed to discard of it straight away, and left the shop, following Akemi at a safe distance, only pausing to chuck the book in the bin, then continuing on, it seemed like her meeting point was the old Warehouse. "That dodgy Warehouse, c u l8r, -T.K x" I texted back before continuing on down the street like I hadn't even noticed her.

I would have usually have taken the shortcut and turned right, but I decided I was permanently off of the idea of ever taking a short cut again after my most recent experience with one so I turned left, deciding to take the long route back, and it was halfway down that empty, grey street that I _knew _I was being followed. Being a (professional) stalker myself , I should know, I could feel hard eyes burning into my back, stirring my inner self, the sensation sent a shudder through my spine, and goose bumps raised up on my arms. I did the best to fight the feeling of turning around but I guess I wasn't strong enough.

Curiosity killed the cat.

And so I turned, and when I saw who it was, my heart stopped, my lungs refused to give up the air they held and my feet refused to move. I could only think of one thing. Checkmate. I was in check; I had been checked by none other than my step-father. I could see the vein pop up on his head, the blood rushing to his stupid potato head and his jaw clenched. I could almost hear the grinding of those all –the –better –to –eat –you –with teeth. I could see those dull brown eyes become intense with anger. We stood there, on that empty street, both as shocked as the other to see each over. And then he let out a roar, which reminded me of Shizuo's cry of "IZZAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA" But put it to shame, why must my humour always come out at the most inappropriate of times?

"TOMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKOOOOO! YOU'RRRRREE DEAAAAAAAAAAAD!" The apelike man roared, arms flailing around windmill style. It was those words that sparked the life back into my body, my heart began to beat gain, my lungs released the air they were trapping and my feet, well, they began to fly, I spun around so fast that the world continued to move without me, and then I ran, I haven't been for a proper run for ages, but the adrenaline rush (best rush ever) seemed to propel me faster and further than I thought possible. I dashed, numb to the pain in my feet where they hit the ground with such force and sprinted round the corner, into a busier section on Ikebukuro, my mind didn't seem to want to work all I was getting was that stupid "Game Over" message, if it had worked, I would have used my Parkour skills to my advantage, but I was just running, bolting like a horse with the bit between its teeth, I was running on pure instinct. I shoved passers-by out of the way, my short legs in full flight, but it seemed no matter how hard and fast I ran, no matter how deftly I dodged and weaved, I couldn't shake the brute off. I was surprised that he was still keeping up, but this thantos drive had over taken him, he was focused on his target and he was gonna hunt me down and chase me until I could flee no more. This man was a real monster.

I wasn't long until I realised I was going completely the wrong way, I had run into the heart of the city instead of the outskirts, and at the same time I had realised this, my hope shattered, my legs were filled with lactic acid and felt like dragging lead, I forced myself to run more, ignoring the burning in my legs and the metallic taste of blood in the back of my mouth, I thought I had a slim chance for a second as I skimmed around a corner but then I felt a hard hand clamp around my shoulder and lift me clean of the ground. The "Game Over" sign in my head seemed to burn brighter, this was it, I was convinced I was going to die, I didn't want to die like this, weak and helpless in the hard hands of my step father, it just wasn't very fair. I felt his rough hands clamp around my throat

"Beg for mercy you piece of shit, beg!"

Ha, I'd rather die than beg for mercy from a brute like that! I looked him deep in the eye

"Никогда! Never!" I shouted, defiant in what seemed like the final moments of my life, like I said I would rather die than beg for mercy from someone as vile as him. I felt his hands tighten on my throat, the bones seeming to crunch under his grip

"Beg you bitch" he boomed, his grip was so tight; all I could do was turn my head slightly as a no. As I felt the life being squeezed out of me, the only thought I had to comfort me was that of the fact that I had managed to send the info to Izaya before I died. My lungs screamed and begged but I would not, even as my vision clouded, even as my hearing faded...

I heard a distant shout and felt myself hit the floor, hard, I could feel the blood welling on my arms, but the pain was a good one, pain meant that I was alive. I tried to open my eyes, the world took a violent lurch to the left as I sat up, making me feel as if I would be tipped right off of the planet at any given moment. I rubbed my eyes, attempting to clear my vision. In front of me was a blond haired man, with honey brown eyes and a worried expression. His mouth moved but no words came out, all I could hear was a high pitched ringing in the centre of my head, but I could read his lips as they formed the words "Are you alright?" I gave him a slight nod, my hearing clearing up a bit and my vision more or less clear. It was then I realised that it was Shizuo. He bent down to pick me up but I gave him a feeble kick, backing up by shuffling backwards, dragging my leaden body with my jellified arms and hands. I gave my head a slight shake and my senses seemed to come back to life

"-Was that anyway? Do you know him?" I managed to hear the last apart of Shizuo's question.

"Step- dad. Yes." I answered in a robotic manner, pulling myself to my feet and wobbling like a newborn foal. Shizuo gave me a concerned look. "I should really take you to Shinra's." He said half to himself half to me. I shot him a withering look.

"If you want to take me anywhere, home would be a good place to start." I said, rolling my eyes. Shizuo's face reddened a shade. "MY house." I clarified, stumbling forward, making my own way.

"I'd kill Izaya if I did." He said, looking sheepish

"Then don't, I can take care of myself." I hissed pushing past him to hail a cab. I could see the pain in his face; he couldn't decide what to do for the best.

"You always seem to jump into my fights Shizuo Heiwajima, it is so peculiar." I called back to him as I climbed into the cab, for some reason, I didn't even think to thank him at the time. I guess I just don't really show gratitude.

When I got home, I told Izaya the tale of events which he sighed to at the end. "Trouble follows you like a sheep to its Sheppard, but I can't understand why." He pulled me into a hug and I rested my head on his chest, breathing in his warm smell.

"Izaya, do you know how to cover up a murder?" I asked him an from beneath me, I could feel him stiffen his body ridged. He didn't answer my question, just held me there tighter, like he didn't dare to let me go ever again. As he held her like that, she suddenly realized who had made that phonecall...

**I loved writing this Chapter, expressing Tomoko's carelessness, guiltlessness and pride was such great fun, and can't wait to write the next chapter after that ending. Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	13. Unstable

Tomoko pulled away from me, sitting up slowly, her movements robotic. Slowly so moved away from me, stood up and began opening every cupboard looking for food. This was stage 1 alright, she was going to binge eat, she could be extremely gluttonous at times but this wasn't to stop her cravings for sour sweets (you are what you eat!) no, this was to fill the empty feeling inside of her, she ate whatever she got her hands on and I was surprised she wasn't sick, then she reached for the coffee.

"Hey, T.K, maybe drink some water instead, coffee will give you a head ache!" I tried to divert her attention from the caffeine, it was possibly the worst thing she could drink at this time, it would bring her out into hyper active bursts when she was in a good mood alone, but in her current state of mind, it would make her erratic, crazed, _evil_. Not a pretty sight. Though it wasn't often she got like this, she was dangerous, more dangerous than what she is when she is sane, and it all happens in her subconscious, she had no control. Her mindset shifts to something so cold, her conscience seemed to freeze. She had no guilt, she had no fear, she had no mercy, she had no _sanity_. These moods of hers are triggered by a dark and strong reminder of her past, and as rare as that is, it was _scary_, because it wasn't her, my Tomoko, my best friend. It was like she was possessed.

"Orihara-san, I am sorry, but there is something I have to do." A dead voice sounded from behind me, making a shiver shoot up my spine. I turned slowly to see her face inches from mine, her whole face was impassive, I could see the shadowed conflict deep in those once bright eyes of hers, the conflict of the real her fighting her diabolical alter ego. I didn't like the way her eyes stared through me, like she was looking through a glass window, it made me shudder again, and what happened to her calling me 'Iza-kun or Izzy or even Izaya?! The fact that she had called me by something as formal and faraway as Orihara-san, it was like she didn't even know who I was.' Her distant voice brought me back to reality.

"I will see you soon, I promise I will feel better after, I just have to do this, I just have to." She stared down into my crimson eyes with those beautiful maroon orbs of hers and kissed me gently on my forehead. She then patted my hair, walked slowly away, picking up a bag full of what I assumed to be weapons of mass destruction before departing from my apartment. I should have stopped her but I didn't, half because I want to see what she was going to do and half because, well, I was scared. She seemed convinced that she would feel better if she did whatever she had to do, and I had my faith in her, I always did, because she never lets me down, and that's just how it was, and if there was any time she needed my faith, it was now.

"Do your best for me," I murmured under my breath, now was the painful waiting game and to be completely honest, I didn't even know if she was going to come home...

My body begged, pleaded and reasoned with me not to do what I was about to do, my mind was absent somewhere, stuck on one track, my ultimate, goal, I had to do this, for my own peace of mind. For the sake of my lost _sanity_ I had to do this.

So I glided, down the busy streets of Ikebukuro, absorbed in my own world of hate and wrath, my lust of revenge was burning so hot inside of me, I could no longer hold it. That bastard was going to learn never to mess with me again, never to step one foot into my life. He needed to learn that I was different now, that I was stronger now, emotionally, mentally and physically. I wasn't weak, I could fight my own battles, and I was about to prove this, prove it to not only me, but to them, to the world, to every damned human ape on this godforsaken planet. I hadn't noticed the way people had moved for me, moved out of my path, I think it was because they could feel the electrical sparks of angry pulsating off of me, but maybe it was my twisted facial expression, one of the two anyway.

I was almost there now, walking towards the place I had run from so many times, but this time I would be walking away from it, not running. I stood in front of my house. Sickened by the vibes it gave off to me, I moved the "home sweet home" mat, grabbing the spare key from underneath it then spitting on the mat, it repulsed me. Made my insides churn it did. The irony was sickening. I shoved the key in the lock, turned it so hard the lock that it snapped off in my hands. I stepped inside.

"I'm home." I announced as I walked in to the living room, ignoring the startled expressions of the people whom I hate most in the world. "Back home to your cosy idea of Hell, well, I am about to show you Hell, you will _**BURN**_ in the Hellfire that I am about to unleash upon this Hell Hole. I would say for you to Burn in Hell, but I don't want the novelty of all these Hell references to turn to ash, and anyway, you are about to burn there twice, I hope you enjoy your asses being roasted. Прощание!" I threw my home made petrol bomb hard, I had all of a few seconds to escape, I dashed round the corner, out of the door and then BAM whole place blows up, and not a soul in sight to see those savages burn in their very own Hell on Earth. The force through me to the floor, and the billowing clouds of ash smothered me, choking me. I lay there in the road for a few moments, relishing in my sweet revenge on the people who ruined my life, and I found myself singing as the house burned down behind me.

"I'm standing in the flames  
And it's a beautiful kind of pain  
Setting fire to yesterday  
Find a light, find a light, find a light  
Standing in the flames  
And it's a beautiful kind of pain  
Setting fire to yesterday  
Find a light, find a light, find a light"

And then slowly made my way back to Izaya's house, somehow some sort of cloud in my mind seemed to clear, I felt better now, truly happy for one of the first times in my life. I skipped away from the scene, the street was deserted, no one around was to call for help, it seemed like I had God's approval on my deed, if there was some sort of superior entity up there in the sky. I skipped down the streets, people moved far out of my way as I walked amongst the crowds of busy Ikebukurians, I guess seeing a girl with slightly torn clothes and covered with ash with a psychotic look in her eyes is something that would make you cross over the road.

It was late that night, when it came on the TV, how a house had been the subject of an arson attack, but there was no clues or leads to who had done it. I had gotten away with committing the perfect crime. The news reported begged the public to tell the police if they knew anything. Izaya had laughed at that "Your secret is safe with me, chess pieces remember? Anyway, I don't want to get burned to death thank you very much, so I am definitely staying on the good side of my little T.K-Chan~" He sung, pulling me into a hug as the pair of us watched on live television fire fighters trying to move rubble. Together, we watched what I was capable of. Together we discovered just how dangerous we really were. Together we had fallen asleep on the sofa, not a single twinge of guilt or shame in our minds as we slept back to back, supporting each over; just like we do when we are awake.

**Hurray for psycho T.K, I loved writing this chapter so much, I think this was one of my favourites to write, I just love writing Tomoko's other personality so much, maybe because I don't like writing about nicey nice characters, but I don't know. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, oh and before I forget, Russian translation is "farewell". **


	14. Checkmate

**I am on some serious writing high at the moment! **

"_Checkmate!" This time the dream was different, the chess pieces were no longer chess pieces, but the people that they represented, I stood there, looking at the king piece, Izaya, deciding what to do next. I shouted up at the bleak, black sky for help "what do I do?!" I cried up to the sky, but the only reply I got was a harsh wind, it stung my eyes and picked all off us players up, scattering us ito the cosmos, I reached for a nearby chess piece, the castle, but it transformed into Shizuo, "stay away from me you freak!" He shouted, pushing me off of him, and I flew off, flung into the furthest point of the universe._

I woke up, gasping for air, my eyes wide with the shock of the dream. When I realised I was safe, at home, still lying on the sofa, minus Izaya, I managed to breathe a sigh of relief. Izaya looked up at me from his computer, raising an eyebrow

"Bad dream?" He asked, suppressing a laugh and my unimpressed expression. I bit back an angry retort and just answered as calmly as I could "Yeah, similar to the one the other day." I swung myself of off the sofa and made my way to my/our room so I could get some clothes before having a shower. I whacked the temperature down to the coldest it would go before stepping in, taking a strange thrill in the way the freezing water stung me like bee stings. I slicked back my hair, allowing the freezing water to sting down on the two inch scar across my forehead, the scar caused by a glass bottle, the scar hidden by my bangs. It was only when the bitterly cold water touched the old injury on my head did I feel fully awake. I washed my hair, letting the bubbles rush down onto the floor of the shower before I switched off the cold water and rung out my hair. I quickly changed into some (non-ripped) casual clothes, a soft, plain light blue t-shirt, a pair of purple jogging bottoms and a grey baseball jacket. It wasn't until my hair was completely dry that I stepped out of the bathroom and walked back into the living room, shuddering as I walked past Izaya's prized Go board, and throwing myself down on the sofa. Listening to the rhythmatic sound of Izaya's typing lulled me a little, but the feeling of impending dread seemed unshakable, even after one of my (freezing) cold showers the feeling would not wash away. I pushed it to the side as I half watched some anime on the TV and half listened to the phone conversation Izaya was currently having. After a few minutes of juggling between TV and Eavesdropping, Izaya put the phone down and rocked back in his chair, a look of intense thought crossing his face.

"Got much work on today?" I asked half-interested (or was that just something that means that you are bored and are interested in any old crap? Oh I don't know) in what his answer might be.

"Yeah, just gotta meet with some Blue Squares members, they don't wanna come here, said something about being ambushed by Yellow Scarves if they cross their territory, oh the way human minds work~" Izaya said wistfully, staring out of the window for a few moments before looking back to me. "What about you Ko-Chan?" he asked me. I rolled my eyes at this new nickname before answering him . "Nah, seems like no one wants me to do any stalking today so I have the whole day to myself!" I said happily, as much as I enjoy stalking people around the surrounding towns, it was fun just to kick back and relaaaaaaaax for once in my life. Izaya stared at me for a few moments "What are you planning on doing? Can't just sit here all day doing nothing.~" He sung. I gave him my best smirk "I plan on pigging out, eating all the food in sight." I said triumphantly. Izaya just raised his eyes "Fatty, anyway, I don't have to meet with those guys for another hour and a half, so we could go to Russia Sushi if you like."

"Only if you're paying..." I bargained, giving him my best oh- please- pay- for- my- food- I-am- such- a-sweet- and- innocent- girl look. It worked, like it always did whenever I am trying to persuade someone to do something for me, he gave a reluctant sigh before standing up and stretching. "Come on then." He sighed and I gave him a full display of my shark teeth before jumping up to tag after him. I looked at his switchblade sitting on its own by the desk, unclaimed. I thought to tell Izaya, but it just slipped my mind, I guess I have a low attention span at times.

I sat back in the chair at Russia Sushi, feeling full and suddenly sleepy, but still on edge. Somehow the atmosphere today felt off, like something bad was going to happen, calm before the storm, that sort of thing, I shook it off, it was stupid dwelling over a stupid dream. I blinked again and saw that Izaya had just returned from paying the bill.

"Listen T.K, I gotta go now, I'm only round the corner, the little dead ended road by the Old Warehouse, stay out of trouble, please, for me, I mean it." He bent down and awkwardly kissed my forehead, I caught the sweet minty smell of his breath and then he was gone, striding out of the restaurant, leaving me sitting there.

After a few moments I got up and walked out of the restaurant, I found my feet taking me to the park. It was empty, of course, all the kids are at school, so I didn't look too weird sitting there by myself, swinging on the swings. To be honest, I didn't know how the long I was sitting there, swinging on swings by myself, but after an unknown period of time, that sense of doom crept up on me again, so strong this time that it brought me out in a cold sweat.

"Checkmate!"

The voice echoed in my head, stirring my soul in the same menacing way a witch stirs a cauldron , goose bumps popped up all over my arms and I felt chilled to the bone with some sort of unknown fear, and I think that was the scariest bit, the fact that I didn't know and did know all at the same time, because that girls instinct was kicking in, the one where you know someone close to you was in danger? Yeah, that was the one, and there was only one person close enough to me that I would be able to feel the fact that they were in danger, and that was Izaya Orihara. I jumped of the swing and raced full power towards the old warehouse, it was take me 6.43 minutes at a full sprint at most if I took the road way, but if I went via Parkour... 3 minutes at latest. I found myself pretty soon scaling some drain pipe to reach the top of some great desolate, derelict building on the outskirts. Here was where all the old building were, the place was kinda trashy compared to the rest of the city, worked in my favour if you ask me, more things to climb and jump on.

I had only one building between me and the wall of the dead ended road where Izaya had planned his meeting and already I could hear raised, tensed voices, voices so vulgar and course they made my blood run cold, because I knew who that voice belonged to...

"Don't be like that babe, we only wanna have some fun with you!" Yep, that's right, Pervy alleyway guy, in yet another alley way. Creep. From the sounds of the conversation (argument) it sounded like that Izaya wasn't giving them what they wanted. I tried to listen and I leapt across to the other building, scraping my knees and arms as I landed (gracefully). I winced, scaling down the building and stepping neatly onto the wall, hiding myself behind the building.

"Now you listen here, you give us this info for _free_ or we gon' stab ya, ain't that right boys? We gon' cut ya like a fish, spill ya guts." Izaya just smirked, I could see that from here, that smirk, but it was soon gone when he realised that his own blade was gone. It sat at home on the desk, and here he was, defenceless and trapped.

"I have failed you, Izaya I am so sorry." I murmured. All I could do was hope that he would make the right choice, give them what they wanted, but Izaya was stubborn, he always had been as stubborn as an ass, and right now it pissed me off, why did he have to be so goddamned money orientated at a time like this.

"Because money is power and I am the most powerful of them all, without using brute strength like the protozoan" I could hear him saying. Of course, I should have known.

:

:

:

:

Everything went in slow motion, One of those Blue Squares members stepped forward, aiming to slice at Izaya's chest with his knife, it was long, it looked like some sort of Tibetan Long Knife, but I don't know, I couldn't help but stare helplessly as I was about to watch my best friend get sliced, and then I realised:

Tomoko Akiyama, 21 years old,

Pressure Points: Izaya ,Parents, Past

Fears: Losing best friend

I couldn't watch him die, he was my best friend, my light in the dark, if it wasn't for him, I'd have died, I needed to put my stupid pride down for once, I needed to get rid of it. And then I was jumping, a short jump, but still the gangster moved onwards with the blade, I took one long running step, throwing myself in front of Izaya, like some sort of meat shield. I couldn't let him die like this, just like Shizuo hadn't let me die at the hands of my father. It wasn't fair.

"_You switched places with him huh? Fine, you can be in check!"_

_..._

'_That voice...I know it somehow. How is that-!?"_

Warm liquid had splattered over his face; it dripped down from the tip of his nose and onto the floor in a slow _drip. drip._ Fashion from where he had been sprayed with the stuff, everything went so slowly...The Blue Squares were running, running in slow motion, time had slowed, but what did it matter, he was alive and the person in front of him was...was...Tomoko Akiyama...

Izaya threw his arms out to catch her before she fell, ignoring the hot, wet liquid sliding over his hands.

"Tomoko...you shouldn't even be here, why would you do something so stupid?" Izaya murmured into her long toffee colour hair. It was then the first drops of rain hailed down on the earth, diluting the red puddles of blood to something less.

"You're you stupid one." She mumbled, wincing in pain. Everything hurt, the slice had been long and deep, it punctured her stomach and her body was slowly being poisoned by stomach acid. It was impossible to say what would kill her first, but it would be a slow, painful death.

"Hate the way I always fall into your arms." She whispered. "I hate relying on people..."

"Well it's a good thing really. If I didn't rely on you, I'd be where you are..." His voice trailed off, this wasn't like Tomoko to do things to help another in such a big way. He felt touched that she would do that, but then I guess that's what friends are for... there had to be something he could do to save her, he reached for his phone but in a flash it was gone, Tomoko had flung it a little way.

"No, I don't want know that If you go to get the phone that I'll bleed out quicker and die faster, but if you don't get it, I'll die anyway. A Lose-Lose situation." She said with a slight hint of smugness in her croaky voice., her voice that wobbled as the pain shot through her, the voice, even though she was dying, still had that fiery edge to it.

Izaya looked at her again "Listen, Tomoko, I know I never said it, but I-I-I..." He stammered, not sure how to saw it, a single tear rolled down his face and landed on her cheek.

"Don't say it. I already know. Ditto." She choked on her words. "Guess the no tear thing is out the window, shame you couldn't have kept it up for a few minutes more," It was then she cried, cried at the sight of her best friend, the only person who truly cared, crying himself, it was a sight that killed her inside, it was too painful for her to watch. She lay there, crying silently, her salty tears mixing with the raindrops and rolling down her palling face.

"I could have done so much more, but... fate never favoured me much, only when it allowed me to meet you, but you'll be fine without me, you'll find someone else, someone better than me. I- I think I'm going now, I think that because I have always believed that once you truly understand your life, when you have achieved your goals and are at happiness, you do before I go, thank you, Izaya, for everything... Be good for me, if you can." He kissed her, then kissed her softly on the mouth, as he did so, he could feel the life leaving her, her response weakening, it was only when he broke apart from her that he knew, he knew she was hand had slipped through his hands and she lay limp in his lap, her maroon eyes, those eyes that sparked, were half shut and empty looking, vacant and faraway, sad eyes, her face was not peaceful if you looked close enough, it was showing a slight conflict, a look of pain and sadness expressed in the shadows that were cast on her face. But she was gone, she came into this world more loved than she left, and that was the hardest part.

"It's raining, it's pouring, gang wars are boring

I'm laughing, I'm crying, Tomoko is dying"

I knew something was up when Izaya called me, he only called me for one thing and that was if he or Tomoko had been hurt. But this words chilled me as he just bluntly told m that Tomoko was dead. Been stabbed and bled to death. Then he had hung up the phone, leaving me standing there speechless. I felt so bad for him, I wouldn't know what I would do if Celty... no let's not think about that. They had a different sort of relationship, they were never all loved up and coupley, but you could tell he loved her, and she loved him, but neither of them ever knew how to express that, but they still had their strange little unconfirmed relationship going on, both knew it, but would never admit it .Always too proud to.. I think that was the bit that saddened me. They were a strange pair, yes, and they were bad, but neither of them deserved what had happened, poor Tomoko.

Afterwards, I had to tell Celty that I loved her, she asked me why I was saying that all of a sudden, but I just told her that I felt the need to. I wasn't going to tell her the truth, but I imagine it won't be too long before everyone finds out; after all, Tomoko was quiet well known. I wonder what Shizuo and Rei will think...

**Author note, PLEASE READ :We still have one more chapter left. *runs off to cry in a corner* Oh, and if you didn't realized *which you probably did but anyway* that was Shinra at the end *of course* Anyway, see you guys at the last chapter!**


	15. Closure (Epilogue)

**Guess the song references and win a cookie, anyway, enjoy the last instalment!**

I thought I was supposed to rest in peace, y'know? What a load of lies! Last thing I remember was being kissed and then bam, listening to that creepy ass voice that pops up in my dreams. No, POPPED up in my dreams, my life is past tense now, being dead is such a blast, _not._

'_**We have assessed your life based upon your actions and sins to see where you belong'**__ "well isn't that just great, I'd better pack my bags for Hell" __**"Your results were inconclusive. You have been cast to the in-between where you shall wait for your God. He will come sooner or later; I can't imagine his human life lasting much longer. In the in-between, whilst you wait for this said day, you will work as a Grim Reaper typed angel of sorts, basically, **_**you **_**decide the fate of those in Ikebukuro, the city of your God. Now be gone, I have other to deal with."**_

And that was that, my 'lovely' welcome to the after-life, a job. Because I seriously wanted to have to work for some unknown entity when I died. But being some sort of Fate Angel or whatever I am now doesn't sound too bad; it seems like fun to play God. Also turns out I can return to earth when my job requires it and just watch it from here when it doesn't. You are probably wondering what _here_ looks like. Empty would be a start, I am the only human, er, humanoid here, well, I am the only _anything_ here. It is completely deserted. It is always very grey here, and the weather is always mild and cloudy, thought the wind can pick up quite a bit. I wish it was hotter here, but then again, if I wanted hotter, I could go to Hell. Oh that's another thing, I can't go anywhere but here, too good for Hell and too bad for Heaven, but Heaven is over-rated anyway; I'm getting kinda comfortable with my life here. The sky is always cloudy, and day and night do not exist, not that it matters, I'm never tired, or hungry for that matter. I guess that is the benefit of living in Limbo Land. I always thought that in Limbo, or Purgatory or whatever this place is, you are supposed to be purified to go to Heaven, guess it's just impossible to make me a good girl, _h_a,guess that God will just have to live with what I'm not. Anyway, there are quite a few mountains here, and then there is the seeing glass, that allows me to watch down on my home.

Nothing really changed with me, I still have my Lock-Knife, I was allowed to keep one thing, and I still look the same, except my old scars have gone and I have the wings, great big feathery things, and great big nuisances too. The left one is black, the right one is white, guess that/s to show my personality or my job or something like. I still have the same personality seeing as I can't be changed. Oh the joys of being undead. I do have some powers, but they aren't amazing. I can manifest clothes, weapons and food, but that's all (bit useless seeing as I like my current, earth clothes, I have my knife and I don't need to eat but hey, it's the thought that counts, obviously I can fly (also an overrated childhood dream,) and I can rebound things, because I totally need to do that like every day, eye roll.

I didn't like watching down on Earth; I guess it made me feel homesick and disappointed. Seeing my old friends mope about wasn't my idea of a good time, but I guess there wasn't ever anything else to do, but today was different, The screen of my dormant laptop flashed, and nine times out of ten, I ignored what it instructed me and let fate play is course, no one was there to save me, so why should I save them? Pretty selfish huh. But today, the person whose life was in question was none other than Mr. Strongman, Shizuo Heiwajima.

Accept or Decline? I quickly folded in my wings, manifested a bandana which I tied around my face, as well as some green contacts and changed into some running shoes before then hitting accept. And then hitting the hard ground of Ikebukuro.

I had landed on an empty street not far from where I died. It felt so strange being back, back on good old planet Earth, but this was no time for reminiscing, in less than 5 minutes, Shizuo Heiwajima was going to be shot to death by none other than my favourite Blue Squares member, pervy alleyway guy, in his office at Tom Tanaka's debt collecting agency. I lifted myself up and set off at a sprint, I was fast, faster now that I had enhanced abilities, but I had a sinking feeling that I wouldn't make it, I sped round the corner, picking up the pace and then ran smack bang into someone. That someone being the last person I wanted to see. That person was Izaya Orihara. I slowly looked up at him and a haunted look flashed through his eyes.

"Tomoko?" He asked. I managed to shake my head, left, center ,right , center when all I wanted to do was rip the bandana off, confirm it was me and snog his face off. From the look of his face he didn't believe me, he should have, and after all, I am supposed to be dead. He grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted my bangs gently out of my face, I trembled beneath him, but my scar had gone. "I didn't mean to scare you." He said, letting go of me, I sprinted away the second he did so, I had wasted time and unnecessary pain was just brought back, cheers.

The door was unlocked and I threw it open, glancing behind my shoulder I could see the thugs approaching. I had luckily made it to the agency just in time, no thanks to Izaya. I took the stairs two at a time, running as fast as I could, I could hear the Blue Square Murderers (as I dubbed them) close behind. I made it to the correct floor, to the correct room and flew open the door, Only Tom and Shizuo where there.

I yanked the bandana off my face. "Shizuo look out!" I dashed towards him arms outstretched and for the second time in my life, time slowed down. I heard the gun go off behind me, I heard Tom's gasp, I grabbed Shizuo, hitting him hard with my force and we both headed towards the window. I heard the glass break, then time sped up, the bullet skimmed by shoulder, missing both of us by the smallest unit of measurement know to mankind, and then we were falling, fast, any second we would hit the ground. I wrapped my arms around Shizuo and outstretched my wings at the last second. We glided to the ground, the second we touched down, I folded my wings. I lay there on Shizuo's chest, none of us moving.

"It's you isn't it," He murmured in my ear, his warm breath tickling my neck. I gave him a nod

"Yep, the one and only. I thought I'd repay the favour, seeing as you saved my life, well, before I died anyway. Listen; do you like I could owe you one more favour?"

Shizuo gave me a nod.

"Don't tell Izaya I was here. What happened here was a freak accident, Tell Tom that too." And on that note I got up walked a few steps and the next thing I knew, I was back in my own little Limbo Land. I lay back on the tall grasses, allowing the breeze to blow over my head. I smiled in spite of myself. I guess this job wasn't so bad after all. It beat waiting for him, but I knew the day would come and I would be there to collect him, to bring him here to control over Ikebukuro with me as his loyal angel, but until then I would wait, wait here and watch down on him and the others, because if I was one thing to my friends now that I was dead, I was their Guardian Angel, even if I was a badly behaved one.

And do you know what? I think that today I found my closure.

**And that's all. I might make another follow up story about Tomoko's life in the In-between or a more detailed one about her adult life before she died but I am more in favour of writing about Rei's life, seeing as I didn't write too much about her. I don't know, you guys tell me what you think. Also thanks for reading and reviewing this story, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I sure enjoyed writing it. Bye for now!**


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